This invention relates to an engine starting apparatus for a marine propulsion device and more particularly to an improved starting system for a marine engine.
Normally, marine propulsion engines are provided with an electrical control circuit that includes a starting switch for starting of the engine and also a kill switch for emergency or rapid stopping of the engine. Frequently, the kill switch is connected to the operator or an occupant of the watercraft by a cable so that in the event the occupant becomes displaced from the operator's position, the engine will be stopped for emergency purposes. Many times the watercraft, particularly if it is a large one, provides two separate control stations each of which may have starting switches and kill switches.
If, for some reason, a kill switch has been operated and the operator does not notice this when he attempts to next start the watercraft engine, starting will be impossible. If the operator does not realize that the kill switch has be activated, as may readily happen when the kill switch at one station has been actuated and the operator is attempting to restart at another station, continued attempts to start the watercraft can deplete the battery, cause the plugs of the engine to become fouled and starting then will become impossible or very difficult.
It is, therefore, a principal object of this invention to provide an improved starting system for a marine propulsion engine that will overcome these difficulties.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved starting system for a marine propulsion device wherein an operator will be warned if the kill switch has been activated when he attempts to start the engine.